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Tonight On P.O.V.: "The Judge and the General"

[Mark Rabinowitz] On September 11th, 1973 Chilean general Augusto Pinochet led a military coup, overthrowing the democratically elected president Salvador Allende and beginning a 17 year reign of terror, torture and murder. Airing tonight on P.O.V. is "The Judge and the General," directed by Elizabeth Farnsworth and Patricio Lanfranco and according to the New York Times review, the film "embodies a contradiction: it proves that a documentary can be heartening and dismaying at the same time." The film follows Chilean judge Juan Guzmán, himself a former Pinochet supporter and his task: investigating alleged crimes by Pinochet.

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"The Black List: Vol. 1" Hits The Mark

[Mark Rabinowitz] On Tuesday I was lucky enough to serve as a plus 1 to the HBO premiere screening of Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Elvis Mitchell's "The Black List: Vol. 1," hosted by Time Warner Chairman of the Board, Richard D. Parsons. The pre-screening reception was very well attended and the spread was pretty nice. The invite said "cocktails and not that I am complaining, but since when do short ribs fall under "cocktails?" The Rabbi loves him some short ribs!

As for the film itself, it's pretty damn amazing. I can honestly say I have never seen a film that so clearly, simply and beautifully portrayed what it means to be Black in America. My mother Joanne Grant was a very proud mixed-race woman who, more often than not, identified as black and had she lived to see the film I am certain she would have been as moved by it as I. Of course, since she was herself a filmmaker and not shy about getting up in people's faces, I am sure she would have wanted in on the project and knowing her, she'd either have been up on the screen or behind the scenes.

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Doc-Linkage: HBO Doc Series Continues; BritDoc Wraps; New NZ Doc Society

[Mark Rabinowitz] One of our periodic selections of doc-related stories from around the globe. And I do mean GLOBAL, today.

The Recruiter Airs Tonight
Tonight marks the 8th (out of 12) screening in the HBO Documentary Film Series with Edet Belzberg's "The Recruiter." In a nice change of pace, the film focuses on an aspect of the War in Iraq that takes place here at home. The Washington Post has a nice write up here. Upcoming films in the series include: Ivan O'Mahoney and Laura Winter's excellent "Baghdad High," Paul Taylor's "We Are Together: The Children of Agape Choir," Rory Kennedy's "Thank You, Mr. President: Helen Thomas at the White House" and "The Black List, Vol. 1" by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Elvis Mitchell. Of the five remaining, I've only seen "Baghdad High" (hence my one word of praise) but look forward to seeing the others. Maybe I can get screeners from HBO so I can praise them in advance....*cough...hint....cough*

2008 BritDoc Festival Wraps
Over at indieWIRE, Cinetic Rights Management head of programming and marketing Matt Dentler wraps up this year's edition of BritDoc Festival, including a look into how this year's themes of comedy and music played out at the fest. Well, at least the comedy part. There wasn't a whole lot about the music side. I am damn sorry I missed it, but next year...oh YES, next year! Look Out Oxford, the Rabbi's a-comin' to getcha!

Hoops, There It Is!
The Documentary New Zealand Trust are starting a bi-monthly doc film society and kicking off the series with Steve James' acclaimed "Hoop Dreams." Called DOCNZ Focus, the series tips off on Tuesday, July 29th with a screening and an appearance by the NZ Breakers, a team in Australia's National Basketball League. Other films scheduled in the series are Joshua Tickell's "Fields of Fuel" as well as Costa Botes and Peter Jackson's mocumentary "Forgotten Silver," The latter programmed, apparently, to provoke "the question ‘should we believe everything that documentaries show us?’" The final three films yet to be announced. Each screening will be followed by a discussion.